Tree Trimming & Vegetation Management

Logan County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) maintains a proactive right-of-way (ROW) program to keep power lines clear, protect public safety, prevent outages, and reduce storm damage. Trees are one of the leading causes of power interruptions, so regular trimming is essential to reliable electric service.

How We Maintain the Right-Of-Way

LCEC crews perform line clearance work throughout the year.
Concentrated vegetation management is also performed by Fitzwater Outdoor Maintenance, working on behalf of the Cooperative.
Work follows professional arborist standards (ANSI A300), using directional pruning whenever possible to guide tree growth away from power lines.
Primary transmission and distribution lines are maintained on a 4–5 year cycle.

2026 Maintenance Areas

This year’s line clearance work will be concentrated in the following townships:

Jefferson Township
Perry Township
Rushcreek Township
Bokescreek Township

Work is scheduled to begin in March and continue through October in these areas. Members may see clearly identified crews working along roadsides and near service lines during this time.

Working Together: LCEC & Fitzwater

To support a proactive and effective vegetation management program, LCEC has partnered with Fitzwater Tree and Lawn Care (Fitzwater Outdoor Maintenance) to perform concentrated tree trimming throughout our service territory. Fitzwater crews will focus on:

Clearing trees and brush along rights-of-way
Maintaining proper clearance around primary distribution lines
Reducing vegetation-related outages and storm damage
Supporting LCEC’s goal of maintaining 99.98% system reliability

Members may see Fitzwater crews working along roadsides, in rights-of-way, and near power lines. All crews will be clearly identified.

LCEC employees work closely with Fitzwater to ensure safe, efficient, and consistent results. LCEC crews support vegetation management efforts by:

Performing necessary work throughout the year
Responding to emergencies
This coordinated approach allows LCEC to provide reliable electric service while maintaining high safety and quality standards.

How Trees Are Trimmed

Our goal is to trim trees so they will not interfere with power lines until the next trimming cycle.

Clearance standards include approximately:

10 feet around single-phase distribution lines
15 feet around three-phase distribution lines
3-4 feet around service wires
3-4 feet circumference clearance around utility poles

To ensure good trimming practices are followed, LCEC follows recommendations by the International Society of Arboriculture’s American National Standards Institute A300 Tree-Pruning standard. This includes directional trimming, which removes the branches that are growing toward the power lines. This practice protects tree health while directing future growth away from the power lines.

Planting Trees

When planting a tree on your property, consider the future impact that may exist if power lines are present. Questions should be directed to the Logan County Cooperative office, 937-592-4781.

NOTE: when planting near underground power lines, always call DigSafe at 811 so your utility companies can mark any underground lines. DigSafe is free and it’s the law.

Frequently Asked Questions

Trees add beauty to our community, but tree limbs and power lines are not a good combination. LCEC distribution lines carry our members’ electricity and must be kept clear to protect their safety and keep their electric service reliable. By trimming trees, LCEC reduces safety hazards and electrical outages.

Trees are a common cause of blinks and outages - especially when severe weather hits. In addition, tree limbs that extend into power lines pose a significant risk to public safety. Anyone climbing a tree with branches that are intertwined with power lines can come into contact with the wires and be seriously injured.

Trees that are in the primary distribution lines, and trees that pose a threat to public safety and power interruptions will be given our highest priority to be trimmed.
Trees that interfere with service wires (wires from utility poles to the customer's house or building) will also be trimmed or removed by the cooperative. Please call the office if your trees are in the service wire and a member of the operations team will meet with you to discuss the issue and what action needs to be taken.

At a customer's request, we will consider removing a tree if it interferes with primary distribution lines, and if removing it will eliminate the need for future trimming. This is at the Cooperatives discretion. We will not remove a tree without the property owner's permission. If a tree is dead, dying, diseased, storm-damaged or is likely to be severely deformed by trimming, we will suggest it be removed. If the tree being removed is dead or dying it shall be the responsibility of the homeowner to clean up debris. The responsibilities of the homeowner and the Cooperative will be discussed and agreed upon prior to work being done.

We are granted permission to trim trees under membership and easement agreements with the members we serve. We are not interested in trimming beyond what is necessary for public safety and reliability of electrical service.

Applicant grants to the Cooperative the right and easement over any part of the premises described below to install, operate, maintain, repair and remove any part of the Cooperative’s electric and/or communication system to properly maintain the supply of service, and to do all things incidental or necessary thereto, including, without limitation, cutting, trimming and controlling the growth of vegetation that may interfere with or threaten to endanger the operation and maintenance of said system.

The member shall grant to the Cooperative and the Cooperative will maintain easement and/or right-of-way according to its specifications with the right to cut, trim and control the growth of vegetation using mechanical or chemical methods within the easement and/or right-of-way or that may interfere with or threaten to endanger the operation or maintenance of the Cooperative’s electric facilities.

The minimum easement width, which may include existing road right of way, shall be as follows:

Overhead Three Phase Primary 15’

Underground Three Phase Primary 10’

Overhead Single Phase Primary 10’

Underground Single Phase Primary 10’

Overhead Three Phase Secondary 10’

Underground Three Phase Secondary 10’

2026 Maintenance Areas

Why does Logan County Electric Cooperative have to trim trees?

How often do you trim trees?

What if trees in my yard are growing into power lines?

How far do you cut back trees?

What is your policy on tree removal?

Can I have the wood chips?

Can you trim trees on my property without my permission?

Terms and Conditions of Service